Railroad-ticket



(No Model.) Y B. B.. ANDERSON. RAILROAD TIGKET.

No. 492,601. Patented Feb. 28, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN B. ANDERSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAI LROAD-TICKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 492,601, dated February 28, 1893.

Application filed August 2'7, 1892. Serial No. 444,274. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN B. ANDERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Tickets, of which the followingis aspecification.

My invention relates more particularly to railroad tickets of the class known as thousand mile tickets, and has for its object the improvement and simplification of such tickets in the manner hereinafter more particularly pointed out. These tickets have heretofore been made in various forms, one of the commonest of such forms comprising a ticket made in a continuous strip, folded back and forth inside a book, and held in place by an elastic band or other similar means. In this ticket each mile of distance traversed is represented by a strip extending entirely across the face of the ticket, thus necessitating as many strips as there are miles in the book, as a consequence of which these books are larger than is desirable and difficult of manipulation. The elastic band was furthermore an objection, as tending to catch and tear the ticket, and a ticket has therefore been desired much smaller in size and simpler in operation. To this end I have devised the ticket hereinafter described, wherein any number of miles, as for example ten, may be printed in a line across the face of the ticket, thereby having ten miles to a strip, instead of one as was formerly customary,and vastly diminishing the length of the ticket. With a ticket printed in this manner, however, with a number of miles in a single line, it would be impossible for any of the cutters heretofore known to tear out any number of miles less than one entire row without difficulty, if indeed it were possible at all; and to this end I have devised the adjustable or sliding cutter forming a part of the present ticket shown in the drawings and described below. Again, my ticket and its inclosing cover are so constructed that there is no necessity for the use of an elastic or other retaining band, as will be obvious from the following description.

My invention consists in the features, details and combinations hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective 'tion in the use of the ticket.

view of the ticket folded up; Fig. 2 asimilar view illustrating the method of using the ticket; and Fig. 3 a detail of the adjustable cutter.

In making this ticket a case or cover A is first formed, comprising a back a, and two flaps or sides A, A. Any printed matter desired may be placed on this cover, which printing by itself forms no part of my invention, and therefore is not represented in the drawings and will receive no descriptionin the specification.

The ticket B is made in the form of a continuous strip of any suitable dimensions, is fastened at one end to the back a, and is folded back and forth within the case, being held in place when not in use by the flaps A, A, which fold over it as shown in Fig. 1. The form of this ticket and the printed matter on it are wholly immaterial to my invention, and I have shown in the drawings a ticket provided with an agents stub and an auditors stub in the usual manner, which, however, may or may not be present in the actual ticket. The numbers, corresponding to the miles, are shown at C on the ticket, ten of each these numbers being arranged on each horizontal line across the face of the ticket, but any greater or less number may be arranged in this way as desired, ten having been taken as a number admitting of easy calcula- At the right hand side of the ticket at C, are found numbers corresponding to the pounds of baggage carried, which, however, may be omitted if desired.

For the purpose of cutting off the portion of the ticket desired, I attach to one of the flaps, as A, an adjustable cutter D, made in two parts D, D, secured together by means of a flange d, a slot 61' and a rivet d, or in any other manner which will allow the two parts ofthe cutter to slide easily upon each other. The member Dof the cutter is provided with a straight edge E, registering with the straight edge on the member D. It is further provided with a shoulderE', and a second straight edge E running preferably parallel to the straight edgeE. In Fig. 3 I have shown the cutter as closed, and in Fig. 2 as partially open for the purpose of being used. The shape or size of the shoulder is immaterial, so long as it will operate in the manner now to be de scribed.

The ticket having been made as already set forth is used in the following manner. The outer edges of the two flaps A, A", are brought together as shown in Fig. 2, forming a slot through whichthe ticket may be drawn. At the same time a chamber or receptacle F is formed within and by the case, in which the folds of the ticket can turn as the ticket is drawn out, thereby preventing any binding or catching. This is an important feature of my lnvention, a result being thereby obtained which, so far as I am aware, has never been reached by any previous ticket; the edges of the flaps forming aguiding slot, and the flaps together with the back forming a chamber within which the ticket is free to unfold, issuing evenly from the slot. Suppose now it be desired to tear off any number of miles, as for instance as showninthedrawings,forty-seven. The ticket is drawn out until the line comes just above the straight edge E of the cutter. The member D" of the cutter is then moved toward the right (Fig. 2) until the shoulder E has just passed the figure 6. If the ticket be then torn across the edge of the cutter, it is obvious that forty-seven numbers corresponding to forty-seven miles, will have been removed from the ticket; and 1n the same way, any other number can be withdrawn. If it be desired to cutoff an even row straight across the ticket, this can be done by moving the member D to the right, until its shoulder is entirely outside of the plane of the ticket, when the two portions of the cutter form a continuous straight edge on which the ticket may be torn. In this mannerI providea simple and efficient ticket, which is much smaller than any other with which I am acquainted, which is so constructed as to dispense with any band or retaining strap, and which is further provided with a suitable cutter for dividing the ticket at any desired point; and while I have shown more or less precise forms I do not intend to limit myself thereto, but contemplate all necessary changes and the substitution of equivalents.

I do not herein claim the adjustable cutter herein shown and described, by itself, inasmuch as I have made the same the subject of another application filed November 21, 1892, Serial No. 452,692.

I claim 1. In a railroad ticket, the combination of a case or cover comprising a back and two flaps, and a strip folded Within such cover, whereby when the edges of the flaps are brought together a guiding slot will be formed between them through which the tickets may be drawn and a chamber formed within the cover within which the strip may untold as it is drawn out, substantially as described.

2. In a railroad ticket, the combination of a case, or cover, a strip folded within said cover,the former constructed so that when the edges of the cover are brought together a guiding slot-will be formed between them through which the ticket or strip may be drawn and a chamber will be formed within the cover within which the strip may be unfolded as it is drawn out, and an adjustable cutter secured to the cover by means of which the ticket may be separated as it is drawn from the cover, substantially as described.

BENJAMIN B. ANDERSON.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL E. HIBBEN, GEoRe-E S. PAYsoN. 

